Exposure to sound and vibration also occurs when watching and listening to TV, a movie, playing video games or listening to music. When a person participates in such activities, very little of the sound energy and vibration impacts their physical body directly or is transmitted into their body and therefore there is little tactile stimulation. When the participant receives more tactile stimulation there is a greater likelihood that they will become more attentive to their body and the stimulus that is inducing the sound and vibration. Therefore, during TV viewing and/or listening to music or a soundtrack and playing video games another sensory modality (touch) can be stimulated in the participant thereby enhancing the experience. Video gaming is further enhanced using this invention as tactile cueing provides additional information. This affords the user a faster response time as vibratory stimuli can trigger a very fast reflex arc.
Movie theaters typically use high volume sound sources to partially create such an effect. Oftentimes the sound will exceed a safe sound level of 85 decibels (OSHA 3074). Moviegoers therefore may experience harmful effects related to their hearing. People however, frequently enjoy the movie theater experience in part because the higher volume of sound creates more physical and emotional feeling through sound and vibration, which enhances alertness and attentiveness. The higher level of alertness and attentiveness causes the moviegoer to become more engaged in the movie and when the moviegoer leaves the theater, he or she is often aware of a heightened state of arousal and awareness.
However, not all people prefer to experience sound at the same volume level. Some people prefer lower volume, while others prefer higher volume. When more than one person is watching and listening to TV or a movie or listening to music there is often disagreement as to how loud the volume should be in the shared environment. Consequently, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus which enables a person to experience the sound without the need to either raise or lower the audible volume level of the sound.